May 8, 2026
A Willkie team recently secured the dismissal of a securities class action against Generac Holdings, Inc. (Generac), its CEO and its CFO in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. This notable result marks the team’s second defense victory in a federal shareholder class action against Generac in just the past three months.
On April 30, U.S. District Judge Brett H. Ludwig dismissed, with prejudice, a putative securities class action that advanced three separate liability theories against energy product company Generac, its CEO and its CEO. The lead plaintiffs alleged that the defendants misled investors by omitting material facts concerning Generac’s generator sales, a purported product defect associated with the company’s solar energy products, and the company’s supposed overreliance on a single dealer for its solar product sales.
The court agreed with Willkie and its clients, holding that the lead plaintiffs failed to plead falsity and knowledge of wrongdoing as to their primary theory, and their amendments to an earlier filed complaint failed to cure the pleading deficiencies that the court previously identified as to their second and third theories. In sum, the court accepted the defendants’ arguments and rejected all of the lead plaintiffs’ arguments.
Generac, an NYSE-listed Fortune 1000 company, manufactures and sells backup power generation equipment, portable generators, energy storage systems, and other energy products serving the residential, commercial and industrial markets. In early 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Generac experienced a significant spike in demand for its home standby generators. As the pandemic waned, Generac’s stock price declined 80%, from a high of $506 per share to $106 per share.
Beginning in December 2022, multiple Generac shareholders filed putative securities class actions in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, targeting Generac, its CEO and its CFO. The Court later consolidated the actions and in July 2023, the lead plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. In 2025, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint with leave to amend, and the following month, the lead plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint, which was most recently dismissed.
Willkie partner Glenn K. Vanzura served as lead counsel representing the defendants.
On April 30, U.S. District Judge Brett H. Ludwig dismissed, with prejudice, a putative securities class action that advanced three separate liability theories against energy product company Generac, its CEO and its CEO. The lead plaintiffs alleged that the defendants misled investors by omitting material facts concerning Generac’s generator sales, a purported product defect associated with the company’s solar energy products, and the company’s supposed overreliance on a single dealer for its solar product sales.
The court agreed with Willkie and its clients, holding that the lead plaintiffs failed to plead falsity and knowledge of wrongdoing as to their primary theory, and their amendments to an earlier filed complaint failed to cure the pleading deficiencies that the court previously identified as to their second and third theories. In sum, the court accepted the defendants’ arguments and rejected all of the lead plaintiffs’ arguments.
Generac, an NYSE-listed Fortune 1000 company, manufactures and sells backup power generation equipment, portable generators, energy storage systems, and other energy products serving the residential, commercial and industrial markets. In early 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Generac experienced a significant spike in demand for its home standby generators. As the pandemic waned, Generac’s stock price declined 80%, from a high of $506 per share to $106 per share.
Beginning in December 2022, multiple Generac shareholders filed putative securities class actions in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, targeting Generac, its CEO and its CFO. The Court later consolidated the actions and in July 2023, the lead plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. In 2025, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint with leave to amend, and the following month, the lead plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint, which was most recently dismissed.
Willkie partner Glenn K. Vanzura served as lead counsel representing the defendants.
